young carers' day - part 5

A 'drum-roll' on the floor and the TV Quiz gets underway!

 

young carers' day - part 4

More games!

 

young carers' day - part 3

 And now it's time for some more dancing!

 

 

 

young carers' day - part 2

And what better after the warm-up than a treasure hunt, scooping up the coins in search of some chocolate surprises!

young carers' day - part 1

Once a year our church runs a Young Carers' Day for families coping with disabilities. This time children and grandchildren of some of church members join in as well.

After some craft work in the morning and a hearty lunch we start with some warm-up dancing to get everyone in the mood for the afternoon fun.

 

aston villa 1 v 2 bournemouth

And so another season begins, but this time it's the Premier League - not the Championship.

Our opening game at Tottenham Hotspur sees us seize an early lead through a John McGinn goal as Villa put in an impressive first-half performance. But then Spurs pile on the pressure after the restart and sadly we leave 3 v 1 to the worse.

So now it's our first home game against Bournemouth and the excitement is palpable.  The exterior of Villa Park has been smartened up with a fresh coat of paint, new badges and a huge photo on the North Stand that features Dean Smith and Jack Grealish clutching the Championship Play-Off Cup.  Some things, however, remain the same.  My son, Ben, makes a bee-line for the 'Bostin' Fish'n'Chips' stall and lunch is sorted.

It's buzzing inside the ground - a near sell-out crowd. The teams emerge to rapturous applause as the North Stand ticket-holders lift up a series of cards that come together in a giant AVFC mural. Sadly the feel-good factor doesn't last long.  Tin Heaton, our new goal-keeper, concedes a penalty in the first minute. Joshua King steps up to the spot and before we know it we're one nil down. 
Things go from bad to worse. A mistake by Douglas Luiz, our new mid-fielder, lets in Harry Wilson whose buzzing shot hits Tyrone Mings and deflects past the stranded Heaton. Twelve minutes in and two nil down.

The second-half is much more like it. Villa drive Bournemouth deep and a superb shot from Luiz sails into the back of the net. Sadly, despite attack after attack, Villa fall short. Two games, two defeats.